Are there calculators on here that can tell me what I want to figure out?

I got a house 7 years ago. I'm happy with it, though it sure would be nice if I could take advantage of the lower interest rates. And I never intended to take 30 years to pay it off, in fact I've thought of paying the mortgage off before retirement. (I have a 30 year fixed rate mortgage at 6.15%.) Unfortunately with the crash, home prices dropped, & I haven't been getting anywhere with refinancing.

So what I have been doing is paying extra on principal every month.

What I'm wondering is:

How long would it take for the mortgage to be paid off if I kept going the way I am now?

This is an easy calculation to set up in a spreadsheet program like Excell or even on line on the Google spreadsheet.

You start out with your outstanding balance, and then deduct payment minus interest from principle each month. Then recalculate interest due the following month on the reduced outstanding balance.

You can also set up a column to count months or even set up calendar months and years.

Once you do two rows of calcs you can copy down to make it easy. 358 months for a 30 yr mortgage. If you increase the amount paid each month you can see how much sooner the outstanding balance goes to zero.

Thanks! I can get a general idea of what is happening here. I think I need to increase the extra payment on principal and/or try again to refinance if I am going to pay off a 30 year mortgage in 17-20 years.

(And maybe I need to get Excel on this computer and learn to do spreadsheets.)

The problem I was hearing is that I was underwater on the mortgage, or close to it. This resulted from bad timing buying the house with 3% down, in a state where the economy rebounded sluggishly. As far as I know, my FICO score is good. No debt except the mortgage (unless you count the credit card which I usually pay off every month.)

I've fixed the place up some & done some work on the landscaping. Maybe this spring I'll be able to get a better deal.

The problem I was hearing is that I was underwater on the mortgage, or close to it. This resulted from bad timing buying the house with 3% down, in a state where the economy rebounded sluggishly.

If you only put down 3%, that suggests that you got an FHA mortgage. If that's the case, have you looked into an FHA streamline refinance? https://www.fha.com/fha_article?id=27 This type of refinance doesn't require an appraisal. You will probably have to come up with some money for closing costs, as closing costs aren't allowed to be rolled into an FHA streamline loan, although if you are willing to take a higher rate, the lender may be able to pay for the closing costs.

Do you think it will matter that the house next door is empty and really needs some work on the roof? At least people have been working on the interior & it is no longer boarded up, but there are no tenants yet. I hesitated to do anything that would cause people to drive by here & notice that I was living next door to a board-up. Didn't want the insurance people to freak out.